Andrea Horwath appalled by gas plant report, supports Liberals anyway

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath says she is outraged at the ongoing provincial gas plant fiasco. Not only has the price tag for the abrupt cancellation of plants in Oakville and Mississauga — one in mid-election — swollen to more than $585-million, but reports now indicate a deliberate cover-up was put in place at the top levels of Dalton McGuinty’s government.

Horwath is fed up with the entire disaster, and she’s not buying Premier Kathleen Wynne’s excuses, either.

“I don’t believe that the current premier was unaware of all of this happening,” Horwath said following revelations that senior Liberals deleted emails about the plant closures despite being ordered to turn over all evidence. “You can’t tell me she [Wynne] took over the reins of her party with this being the biggest issue — in fact it led to the resignation of her predecessor — and she had no idea about it.”

Her anger reflects what Ontarians are thinking; that the rot in the gas plant affair runs deep, and there’s no way it as confined to former premier Dalton McGuinty (who says he didn’t know about the email purges anyway). Right on, Andrea Horwarth!

Except, uh, the provincial NDP leader doesn’t plan any action to reflect her anger. She holds the balance of power in the minority legislature, and could agree at any time to join the Conservatives in defeating the government. But she has promised to help pass the Liberal budget and (between sound bites in which she suggests Wynne is a liar) to continue her support for the government.

But those deleted emails? Not cool, guys. Not cool.

Horwath’s apparent plan is to wag a finger at the Liberals with one hand, while shaking the other. She has unabashedly condemned the Liberals for their record of deceit, dishonesty and reluctance to take responsibility for the gas plant debacle (Wynne and McGuinty have both now claimed not to be fully informed on all the details), while hungrily accepting every morsel offered in the 2013 budget. Those budget gifts —improved senior services, social assistance boosts and reduced auto insurance rates, to name a few — were too good for the NDP to pass up. Combined with the Liberals surprising ability to maintain its support base throughout the ordeal, Horwath evidently feels it is in her own best interest not to force a spring election.

The effect is that Horwath weakens her own credibility every time she blasts the Liberals, while keeping them in office. She is not just complicit in the Liberal’s ongoing governance: she is responsible for it. Her willingness to look the other way on corruption — from E-Health, to Ornge and now the cancelled gas plants — diminishes her party’s own interests and makes every faux expression of outrage more farcical than the last.

In Horwath’s view, she is holding her nose in return for tangible gains. As part of the budget negotiations, the NDP forced the Liberals to create an independent financial accountability office to monitor government spending. “It’s a layer of scrutiny and accountability that will be there not just with this government but with every government going forward,” Horwath said. “A huge gain for Ontarians.” Yes, the creation of this new office, surely, will be a wake-up call for Ontario’s Liberal government.

Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak has kept his hands mostly clean throughout the gas plant implosion. He came out swinging at justice committee hearings into the gas plants, warning that if the Liberals “get away with it this time, they’ll do it again.” PC MPP Rob Leone issued a statement suggesting Wynne should dissolve the legislature in light of the her complacency over the apparent cover-up. Hudak would likely have rejected the budget whether or not the Liberals were entangled in a $585-million scandal. Nevertheless, the party will survive this government with its integrity intact.

The NDP won’t do nearly as well. By calling out the Liberal’s mismanagement and deception, while at the same time extending their tenure in office, Horwath undermines her own legitimacy and makes a mockery of her calls for greater “accountability.” The NDP is willing to swallow a Liberal corruption to serve its party’s own interests, and that, too, is something to be outraged about.

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